Partitioning a Time Capsule

Hi ... How do I partition a Time Capsule ?

Hi Bob,
I opened a thread explaining what I am trying to do with my Time Capsule. Do you have an idea what is the best way to handle my situation if the TC cannot ?
Thread link: https://discussions.apple.com/message/20310615#20310615
Regards.

Similar Messages

I have partitioned my time capsule, but I can't get it to work as a Time Machine back up and permanent media server for both mac and PC. What format do I need to partition the drive to so that it works for both mac and windows and so that it will be visab

I have partitioned my time capsule, as I want part of it to act as a media server for both mac and windows. However I don't know what format that I need to partition it to. I also can't make it a permanently accesible drive. I want to restore the drive to the original format (which I don't know) and start again and re-partition the drive in a format that can be used for media by both mac and PC and for time machine back-ups and make the media part of it permanetly accesible so I can add and acccess my files.
Thanks

You are mixing up a couple of things here.
The TC drive cannot be partitioned without removing it.. did you do that?
If you partition it you must use a Mac disk utility and use the HFS+ ie standard Mac format. And GUID partition table not windows type.
You can select erase disk in the airport utility.. that will take the disk back to original format. No partitions. TC is deliberately not partitioned as it is not a media server.. it is a backup device for TM. Over time .. the disk will be filled with TM backups so you have a long history of file changes to your computer.
There is no media server in the TC.. it is merely disk storage.. you can serve files from it to a media device.. but the TC itself is dumb as dumb.
Now the actual format of the drive is irrelevant to the PC.. The TC offers SMB file services to the network. You can copy files to and from the TC as if it was a local disk without caring one iota about the format. The TC handles that .. it is not a local disk .. it is a network drive.
Although you cannot partition the TC. you can still copy files to it.. this does have implications for TM.. but as long as there is plenty of free space should not be a major issue.
You can create a disk image via the disk utility in a Mac.. and as stated you can create partitions if you do it on a Mac with the disk directly connected which means breaking warranty if any exists on the TC.

Can you partition the Time Capsule hard drive?

I would like to back up through AirportExtreme 2 different Macs with Time Machine
but obviously I would first need to partition the Time Capsule HD !
Is it possible and how would I go about this? I can't find no infos in the manual...
Thanks for your help.

First you do not have to partition the drive to backup multiple computers. Each computer creates a separate file for the backup.
Second there is no way (currently) to partition the drive without taking the TC apart, removing the hard drive, putting it in an external drive enclosure, and partitioning it.

Partitioning the Time Capsule

I'm sorry if someone already asked these questions. I tried t find the answers but wasn't getting what I needed.
I just bought a 2 TB Time Capsule with the intent of using it for backups, but mostly for an external hard drive. I don't even see the point in getting one so large if you can't use it for external storage. I've been trying to partition the drive using Disk Utility, but it was saying that the amount I was giving the backup (I tried anywhere between 300-600 GB) was too small.
I tried a half and half partition after an initial backup. It said there was an error, but then it went ahead and partitioned it anyways. I keep having problems staying connected to the Time Capsule, and air port utility doesn't find it in the scan many times, and I don't know what the problem is.
I'm willing to wipe the whole thing clean and start over if someone would be able to help me take the steps to set up a 500 GB partition for backups, and the other 1.5 TB for external storage.
Any ideas?

Well, in skimming through the forums I remember reading something about being able to use disk utility to partition the time capsule, so I tried that from a couple different angles.
One thing to keep in mind here is that you cannot partition the TC's internal hard drive with Disk Utility. Instead you can use the Disk Utility to create a Disk Image (.dmg) on this drive which you can mount on your Mac's desktop and treat pretty much like a network drive. It is NOT a true partition. The advantage of this option is that you don't have to remove the TC's drive. The major drawback is that you will not be able to mount this Disk Image from Windows.
If you really want to partition the drive, it will have to be removed. A drive caddy (they go by different names) is basically an adapter that you "plug in" a raw drive in one end and it connects to your computer with USB. However, you need to also be aware removing the drive will void the warranty. In this configuration, the Disk Utility can actually partition the drive.

When I try to partition my time capsule it won't show up in disc utility. What do I do?

I want to partition my new 2 TB time capsule. I can see it and set it up with time machine just fine but it won't show up in disc utility.

Sorry, it is not possible to partition the Time Capsule disk unless you first crack open the Time Capsule, remove the hard drive, and place it in a separate enclosure.
Unfortunately, this will void the warranty.
Your best bet if you want to reserve a given amount of space on the Time Capsule disk is set up one or more Disk Images using Disk Utility.
Apple really designed the Time Capsule for Time Machine backups. While it is possible to store other data on the drive, it is not recommended. If at all possible, consider using another USB or Firewire drive for your other data.

Can i partition the time capsule so i can use it as a server as well?

can i partition the time capsule so i can use it as a server as well?

In order to partition the Time Capsule, you would have to open up the Time Capsule case, pull the hard drive, install it in a separate enclosure, connect the enclosure directly to your Mac, and then use Disk Utility for the partitioning operation.
Then, you have to reverse the entire process to install the drive back in the Time Capsule.
In addition to being a lot of work, something like this will void the warranty on the Time Capsule.
Niel's suggestion of creaing a disk image on the Time Capsule drive to reserve a given amount of space would be by far the easiest way to accomplish things.

How do I Partition my Time Capsule Drive ?

I have a 1-Terabyte Time Capsule (Not POSITIVE if its 3rd Gen or 4th Gen?) but It's less than 2 years old if that helps.
It serves as my Wireless Router in my house. My desktop backed up to it Once (I Think?) and my Laptop is not on Auto, but has 30 or 40 generations of backups out there.
Honestly I kind of just Forgot about having this big storage device out there until recently when (Big Project) my Laptop Drive sunk to 34 MEG (not GIG, MEG !!!) --- and I Panicked. I fiddled around a bit and got the TC to show as a Shared Drive in Finder. THANKFULLY I had NOT been using it in "Auto Backup Mode" because I still had over 600Gig Free and was able to dump MASSIVE Amounts of data files out there. From What I Read in the Info, TM or TC ?? will Continue to back up and Keep EVERY COPY until it runs out of space. Only THEN will it ever start deleting older records. (OK, Its GREAT for data security, but Not so Hot for a "Shared Drive") which is what this has now become for me. The Ability for ANY of my Computers to see and work on the same files has become a MAJOR Bonus thing --- and I'm Not feeling like giving that great feature up. (Ever Try and Move a 100 Gig's of Data with a FLASH DRIVE ?? Not EVER Again ;-)
So what appears to be my Solution would be to Partition the TC so that the backups live in a defined space (I CONTROL) I spent HOURS with the install disk, Utilities and out here trying to find a feature where you can Limit TC, but NADA, You Get Hourly Backup (like it or not) Daily, Weekly, Monthly and who knows, it might even do Yearly ?? But Your going to Get 'em No Matter What and it wont stop till it runs out of Real Estate. So I need to make it's Playground a bit smaller.
I can't get Disk Utility to "SEE" the TC ?? (I Thought I saw it last night ?? but Maybe Not ??) I have re-booted the Computer and Power Cycled the TC but It's Just NOT Going to Show. (Its Still in the Finder and I can Move Data IN & Out and Cross Platform---so its Working Fine, but It Wont Show in Disk Utility)
**OK This Is REALLY Strange** As I am Typing This, TC Just Kicked into a Backup. I Still have the Disk Utility open and the DATA FILE for TC is showing as a DISK?? but the Actual TC Drive is still NOT showing. (Specifically, the Datafile "Name of My Computer.SparseBundle" is showing as a Drive ??)
I got an External HDD and moved all the data OFF of the TC (The Info I saw on Partitioning Indicated that Wiping the Disk was Likely) The Only Thing Left out there is the backup file which Frankly I don't care about. Everything is Fine right now, so If I can Wipe, Partition, Set Back Up and start TC Backups again I will have everything I need.
**OH** I Know I can Hang another drive off of the TC but It's Not a Great option. it is S...L....O....W.... as Dirt going over USB (Really Apple?? USB ?? I have a 12 Year Old G5 Desktop that Not Only Has FireWire 400 but 800 as well----- USB ???)
Appreciate your Efforts & Thanks

OK--Post Script Time:
I Searched for this issue and Didn't find an answer, After Posting I got several suggestions that seemed pretty close to the mark, but None went far enough.
The General Consensus seems to be Partitioning is a "NO" via Any Conventional Means.
Alternatives Given we from the Exotic (and Slightly Scary) of Ripping Your TC Open and Yanking the Drive out and formatting it on another computer in some sort of "Housing" to Hacking Suggestions (I have Never had a good experience trying to Hack any of my stuff. I will allow the level of Knowledge needed exceeds mine? but there always seems to be that one Missed Step (Oops) which results in being worse off than before.
The Most reasonable (and Least Scary) option I saw was "Creating a Disk Image and Mounting it like it was a Disk" --- which if I had **ANY**CLUE*** how to do that and what the results would look & feel like I might try----So......
Opinions on this option?
Experience with the TC with this done to it ?
and 5th Grader Step by Step Insturctions on HOW to do it ??
Please??
Thanks
PS: Forget the 5th Grader thing They Probably need LESS Help, Try "Retirement Home Instructions" ;-)

Can I Partition a Time Capsule? and more...

My existing setup consists of an Airport Extreme wirelessly supporting 2 MacBooks ("MBs") 5 iOS devices, 2 WiFi/Airprint printers and then by wire (Ethernet) a couple of other devices. In addition, the Extreme has a USB external hard drive visible/accessible to both MBs. Both MBs have their own external hard drives configured as Time Machines. All devices have latest software upgrades/updates.
I am thinking of replacing the Extreme with a 3TB Time Capsule ("TC") and I propose to Partition the TC's drive into 3 – with one partition supporting MB1's TM, the second supporting MB2's TM, and the third partition supporting/acting like a common hard drive (the same as exists external on the Extreme). The existing external hard drives acting as TMs would be set aside and saved for TM recoveries; the TC situate TMs would simply commence as new TMs (I envision difficulties not worth the effort in moving the existing TM backups to the TC).
Query 1: Can the latest 3TB Time Capsule be partitioned as I have proposed? (The reason I pose the question is a series of discussions dating back to 2012 that indicate a TC cannot be partitioned but the current Apple Store page for the 3TB TC indicates a TC can support multiple TMs: "you can back up all the Mac computers in your home to a central location.") A review indicates the TC established at least two TMs automatically, but I'd like to also dedicate some space for a third partition non-TM drive….so, the Q – can I partition a TC?
Query 2: Would I just be better off not trying to partition the TC and just letting it support two TMs automatically and plugging in a separate hard drive, as I currently have? (Why hasn't Apple upgraded the USB connection to 3.0? oh, well, they probably will a month after I buy mine, right? )
Query 3: When moving the existing MBs from desk to couch it is necessary to first eject the existing TM external hard drives. If the TMs are moved to (or replaced by) a TC that would appear to no longer be necessary – because they aren't physically connected anyway. (Having typed this it seems so obvious, but….I'm asking because I just want to confirm.)
Any other suggestions/observations/watch-its would be welcomed. Thanks.

Query 1: Can the latest 3TB Time Capsule be partitioned as I have proposed? (The reason I pose the question is a series of discussions dating back to 2012 that indicate a TC cannot be partitioned but the current Apple Store page for the 3TB TC indicates a TC can support multiple TMs: "you can back up all the Mac computers in your home to a central
The Time Capsule drive cannot be partitioned in a traditional sense unless you pull the drive from the Time Capsule (which voids the warranty), place the drive in a SATA to USB caddy or enclosure, attach the caddy directly to a Mac, and then use Disk Utility for the formatting operation. Once that is done, then you have to reinstall the drive back in the Time Capsule. Not a job for the faint of heart....and best left to a technician.
The Time Capsule "as is", can support multiple Time Machine backups from different Macs, but is basically a free for all as far as space is concerned. Time Machine backs up to a special file called a sparsebundle on the Time Capsule, and while it is possible to modify or limit the size of the sparsebundle file for each Mac, it is a complex operation. This document will give you an idea of the process:
http://pondini.org/TM/A8.html
Query 2: Would I just be better off not trying to partition the TC and just letting it support two TMs automatically and plugging in a separate hard drive, as I currently have?
Much simpler, therefore much better to do it this way.
Query 3: When moving the existing MBs from desk to couch it is necessary to first eject the existing TM external hard drives. If the TMs are moved to (or replaced by) a TC that would appear to no longer be necessary – because they aren't physically connected anyway. (Having typed this it seems so obvious, but….I'm asking because I just want to confirm.)
Time Machine will automatically back up to the Time Capsule once you have it set up. No need to mount, or eject the drive, etc.
Any other suggestions/observations/watch-its would be welcomed.
The current version of the Time Capsule will be two years old in June....and Apple traditionally introduces new products in June.

Can you partition a Time Capsule?

My situation is, I would like to use 1 Harddrive for both a back-up and general files.
I work as a freelancer and when I'm finished with a project I just throw it on a HDD just incase I ever have to go back to it. I don't want to spend too much on a new Harddrive so I thought maybe I could use a large Time Capsule to firstly back my computer up and then perhaps on the partition put my work files on?
Another question:
Are the transfer speeds solely based on your interenet connection? This could mean you get thunderbolt speed transfers if you have good interenet right?
Thanks,
Tim.

1. The Time Capsule can't be partitioned, but disk images can be stored on it. You should get a regular external drive anyway; the Time Capsule's internal drive will eventually fail.
2. Data transfer between your computers and the Time Capsule is local traffic and independent of the speed of the Internet connection.
(111945)

Partitioned drive = time capsule

Hello,
I'm new to this forum so excuseme if i'm asking a really stupid question.
I have here a time capsule 1TB and a hard drive i have partitioned in to 5 partitions, when i try to connect it with my time capsule, time capsule gives an error message and says i have to connect the drive with my computer to fix the problem. when i connect it there seems to be no problem at all...
Does anyone know what is wrong?
The drive is formatted in windows xp and is NTFS.
A maxtor 3200 500GB
Thanks

The USB drive needs to be formatted HFS+ (Mac OS Extended - Journaled) or FAT/FAT32. You'll have to remove the data and re-format. That's a lot of partitions. Any specific reason for that many?

Access exFAT formatted USB hard drive partition through Time Capsule 2013

I am trying to move data, mostly music, from my old PC to a wirelessly accessible HDD that we can get to from our MacBooks running OS 10.6.8. I have a 2013 Time Capsule with a USB hard drive attached, but I can't see the exFAT partition containing all of the data (on my Mac). I can see the other two partitions, which are formatted for a Mac. I can also see the exFAT partition on my Mac when it is plugged in directly, I just can't access that partition through the Time Capsule. Any ideas on how to remedy this? Or if there is a better solution for moving this data. We don't care about accessing the data from the PC any longer. We are going to get rid of it. We just need a place to keep all of the data where we can get to it.
Message was edited by: A2Laurel

You need to connect the drive directly to a Mac, copy the data to another location, reformat that partition as Mac OS Extended (Journaled), and put the data back onto it.
(85877)

Lost the partition in Time Capsule

Hi all,
I have a Time capsule from 2012 (the latest model) and I partitioned in the same year: 1TB for backups and 1TB to store my data.
Today I noticed that my Time capsule has recorded the last backup in January 2015 and it is no more partitioned. I did not change anything and now I have lost all my backups and ALL MY DATA form the partitioned part.
Can somebody help?

Firstly a Time Capsule from 2012 is not the latest . It is gen4 A1409.. The latest is gen 5 A1470 and is the tall AC model.. It was released, mid 2013
Next it is not possible to truly partition a TC unless you remove the disk.. did you do that??
If not you partitioned the Time Machine Sparsebundle which is very bad.. or you are meaning something else by partition like you created a second virtual disk.
When you partitioned it.. and now lost the partition.. all that has happened is likely you lost the file name.
Have you done a full factory reset of the TC.. use all short names no spaces and pure alphnaumerics.. for everything.. base station name, wireless name and disk share name.. please do that.. no files are lost with this kind of reset.. if the file is still lost you will have to decide how important recovery is to you.. you cannot recover from a TC.. you need to open the TC and pull out the disk.. put it in a holder and plug into your computer via USB... then run a recovery software.. like data rescue 3.. quite expensive but it has a trial download to see if there is any point to it. You also have a better chance of finding your files.. If it is merely backups.. just make a new one and don't worry too much.
And do not partition the sparsebundle as that is really bad.

Two Partitions on Time Capsule causing Time Machine error

Hello
I have a 500Gb Time Capsule connected via Ethernet to my iMac. I run Adobe LightRoom and wanted to use the Time Capsule as a backup. I don't remember exactly what program I used but I was able to access the Time Capsule disk and set up a second partition which I labelled "Lightroom Backups" I set this as 50Gb and told LightRoom to use this as a backup volume.
This appeared to work but now I am getting an error message that Time Machine backup failed, target volume too small. It would appear that the Time Machine Backup is trying to write to the lightroom partition.
I have reset the Time Capsule to factory defaults but the 50GB "Lightroom Backups" is still there and does in fact contain 2 folders (backups.backup.db and a folder with a date label)
The thing is that I cannot remember how I managed to partition the disk in the first place.
Anyone have any ideas as to how to overcome this?
Thank You

you have to be in the minority. The only way to partition is to pull the drive out of TC and use Disk Utility.

Slow download speeds only on Bootcamp partition with Time Capsule

I recently switched from a Netgear router to an older 3TB Time Capsule (Model A1409). Everything works fine on the Mac side with download speeds around 25 Mbps, but when I switch to the Windows 7 partition it drops to around 1 Mbps or less. I'm running Bootcamp 5.0 and to my knowledge have all the necessary drivers.
My roommates running Windows 7 on their PC's aren't experiencing this problem. All my other devices are also working correctly.
Any ideas on how to fix this?

Did you ever find a fix for this problem? It's something I've been living with for months.

How do I Partition a Time Capsule's Drive?

I want to use my TC as both a backup and as a place to store my digital music and have it play through Apple TV. I bought a 1 terrabyte TC and want to split it into 2 500 gig partitions. I tried using disk utility but it didn't see the TC drive even though I was connected to it. I mean that I connected to it in finder and checked that. But disk utility did not see the drive anyway. I tried using the Airport utility but that just seems to erase.
Can I partition the drive?

The answer given in this discussion <http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7159990&#7159990. was no.
What does happen when the backup is mounted is that it appears in Disk Utility as a disk image. That's not the same as the actual TC disk. See my post in this discussion regarding this: <http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=7540393#7540393>

Partitioning a Time Capsule

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for